US outland applicants' thread :)

[killborn]

Hoping for all you experienced members to chime in on some answers for my US outland application.

Am working on a common law application. My partner is Canadian and I am US Citizen looking to apply outland. We currently live together with me on a visitor status (its been almost 15 months). I have most of the application done. Have the notarized declarations etc, but do have a few challenges and need some help.

1. I have only just been able to apply for FBI check and one from my country of birth. Both will be using agents to assist, but still think they will be delayed. Do I need to wait until I have them before I submit?
2. Do I need to do medical before I submit or wait for request from CIC?
3. I have a young daughter in Ohio and understand that she needs to complete a medical. Unfortunately there is no panel doctor within a 4 hour drive of where she lives with her mother. Do I submit without her medical and when requested ask CIC for options? Does hers need to be done before I submit?

Also, I work from home for my US employer. Any of you who do that and anything I need to consider that I might not know right now? Tax implications etc? I still have a physical address in the USA at this time.

I plan on getting someone to review my application before I submit, but trying to find out how much I need to get the process started and how much I will be able to supplement as I get documents from FBI etc?

Thanks for the help..

 

[julies879]

So we landed on 29APR2016 after the 3000 mile drive with one dog, two cats and a 26ft uhaul through 86F degrees, rain, tornado warnings 60 mile an hour wind, snow and sleet....the hardest part was finding a parking spot together so that we could export the cars on the US side...it was also the longest line..We had 46 pages of stuff we declared and the officer was choked because she had to stamp each page!!!..Because I was a returning Canadian they tried to tell me that I could only have $10K exempt on my stuff...I said that I would sign the titles over to my husband and that would cover the cars and in fact when I entered the US I only had 10 boxes and now I am returning with 100 plus so all of the stuff was his...none the less they agreed and Hubby declared everything and no duty had to be paid as he was settling ....I did cry once she started stamping the paper work and she said those are happy tears right and I said yes they were...You have no idea how Canadian you are until you are away from Canada....It was smooth and easy because we had every single piece of paper we needed in files labeled so that when they asked for any info we had it ready including the pet vet records...every single serial number for every single electronic and the dollar value in each and every box...We have been here a week now and have started to get adjusted to the time difference...things are going good...If anyone has questions I will be more then willing to answer...

$10k exempt on the returning Canadians stuff? If we only have one car [valued at around...$7k], do you think this will be an issue?

I'm not really sure how we are to break it down when we cross because everything we have, we share. Any thoughts?

 

[mcoro001]

Hi everybody, I was wondering if you guys could help me. We submitted the outland application on april 25, we haven't received a AOR1 or anything yet and I want to visit my spouse for a couple of months while we wait for the application. Is this possible? what problems will I encounter in the airport?
Thank you

 

[CDNPR2014]

Hi everybody, I was wondering if you guys could help me. We submitted the outland application on april 25, we haven't received a AOR1 or anything yet and I want to visit my spouse for a couple of months while we wait for the application. Is this possible? what problems will I encounter in the airport?
Thank you

yes, of course you are free to visit your spouse. it's best practice to be prepared to prove "ties" to the us, meaning recent pay statements and/or a current lease/mortgage, as well as proof of your PR application and fees paid. Generally, CBSA is pretty friendly with those applying for PR, assuming you show you understand you are only there to visit, not move or live.

 

[mcoro001]

yes, of course you are free to visit your spouse. it's best practice to be prepared to prove "ties" to the us, meaning recent pay statements and/or a current lease/mortgage, as well as proof of your PR application and fees paid. Generally, CBSA is pretty friendly with those applying for PR, assuming you show you understand you are only there to visit, not move or live.

Thank you CDNPR2014. What other type of "ties" to the us can I prepare? What do you recommend? I won't have a job by the time I will be travelling and I don't have a current mortgage. I''m not bringing my car, I don't know how I can use that.

 

[CDNPR2014]

Thank you CDNPR2014. What other type of "ties" to the us can I prepare? What do you recommend? I won't have a job by the time I will be travelling and I don't have a current mortgage. I''m not bringing my car, I don't know how I can use that.

they really won't care about your car or bank accounts, because technically you can just abandon it all (at least from my experience). where are you living now and where do you have to go back to when your trip ends? ie: are you renting or living with family? if you are flying, a return ticket is always a good thing to have. if nothing else can be provided, then bring a copy of everything you have for your application, proof of the fees paid and remember to not use "move" or "live" in reference to entering canada. Generally speaking, most people who show they know the rules get in without having to prove ties...

 

[mcoro001]

they really won't care about your car or bank accounts, because technically you can just abandon it all (at least from my experience). where are you living now and where do you have to go back to when your trip ends? ie: are you renting or living with family? if you are flying, a return ticket is always a good thing to have. if nothing else can be provided, then bring a copy of everything you have for your application, proof of the fees paid and remember to not use "move" or "live" in reference to entering canada. Generally speaking, most people who show they know the rules get in without having to prove ties...

Thank you so much!

 

[Snowisland]

So we landed on 29APR2016 after the 3000 mile drive with one dog, two cats and a 26ft uhaul through 86F degrees, rain, tornado warnings 60 mile an hour wind, snow and sleet....the hardest part was finding a parking spot together so that we could export the cars on the US side...it was also the longest line..We had 46 pages of stuff we declared and the officer was choked because she had to stamp each page!!!..Because I was a returning Canadian they tried to tell me that I could only have $10K exempt on my stuff...I said that I would sign the titles over to my husband and that would cover the cars and in fact when I entered the US I only had 10 boxes and now I am returning with 100 plus so all of the stuff was his...none the less they agreed and Hubby declared everything and no duty had to be paid as he was settling ....I did cry once she started stamping the paper work and she said those are happy tears right and I said yes they were...You have no idea how Canadian you are until you are away from Canada....It was smooth and easy because we had every single piece of paper we needed in files labeled so that when they asked for any info we had it ready including the pet vet records...every single serial number for every single electronic and the dollar value in each and every box...We have been here a week now and have started to get adjusted to the time difference...things are going good...If anyone has questions I will be more then willing to answer...

Congrats !
I will be driving the same distance in a couple of weeks. With two cats.
How did you take the cats? In carrier ? Only food and water and use litter box at night ? That is what I will have to do. We will stay in hotel at night.
What did you do about car insurance proof? Will my USA coverage be proof enough?
How many days did it take you to drive?
Thanks!

 

[mruhomau]

Medical Exam

Hi guys,

My wife is currently with me here in Canada for a few weeks as a visitor. I have started looking at the outland family class sponsorship application and I see that one of the requirements that she will need to do a medical test from a panel physician. My question is : Does the physician has to be from USA or can she do it here while she is in Canada to one of the approved physicians ? Looking forward for a response


thanks !

 

[Decoy24601]

Re: Medical Exam

Hi guys,

My wife is currently with me here in Canada for a few weeks as a visitor. I have started looking at the outland family class sponsorship application and I see that one of the requirements that she will need to do a medical test from a panel physician. My question is : Does the physician has to be from USA or can she do it here while she is in Canada to one of the approved physicians ? Looking forward for a response


thanks !

She can do it in Canada and it's generally a lot cheaper to do so. Mine cost about $220 CAD and I would have paid $450 USD. Depending on where she lives in the US, there could also be longer wait times. It would have taken me 3 months to get an appointment with the only panel physician in the state I lived in, while here I got in after 2 weeks.

 

[ktorva]

Congrats !
I will be driving the same distance in a couple of weeks. With two cats.
How did you take the cats? In carrier ? Only food and water and use litter box at night ? That is what I will have to do. We will stay in hotel at night.
What did you do about car insurance proof? Will my USA coverage be proof enough?
How many days did it take you to drive?
Thanks!

I'm curious about the cat transport too as I will be traveling about 1000 miles with one cat.

 

[ktorva]

I'm sorry, I'm sure this has been asked but I couldn't find it on the forums when I searched.
I believe I read that a CoPR expires when your medicals expire (after 1 year).

What if I am not ready to move at that point? Can I go to Canada and come back for a couple of months still? we are just watching these get approved so fast (YAY!) and are freaking out about how we can afford to move our family so fast. So I want to see how much time we have to work with.

Thank you for your wisdom!

 

[CDNPR2014]

I'm sorry, I'm sure this has been asked but I couldn't find it on the forums when I searched.
I believe I read that a CoPR expires when your medicals expire (after 1 year).

What if I am not ready to move at that point? Can I go to Canada and come back for a couple of months still? we are just watching these get approved so fast (YAY!) and are freaking out about how we can afford to move our family so fast. So I want to see how much time we have to work with.

Thank you for your wisdom!

correct, generally speaking the COPR expires the same day medicals do. if medicals expire really close to DM, more than likely CIC will extend them and give an expiration date for weeks or months later.

Yes, you can do a "short landing". Meaning, you can land, return home to pack up, and come back to canada. When you do your landing, you can fill out the "B4" (recently renumbered) form and fill it out as "goods to follow". When you come back with your stuff, you can settle your goods then. there is no time limit for when you can bring your stuff into canada (from what i've been told), so you don't have to bring it all at once. just make sure it's listed as goods to follow.

Keep in mind your PR card will be sent to your new canadian address, and it could take an extended period of time to get it after landing. For US citizens though, it's not required to have it to travel. your stamped COPR and Passport will be sufficient enough to enter canada until you get your card.

 

[setec-astronomy]

Does anyone have a recent sense of how long it takes CoPR to make its way from Ottawa to the West Coast? I've confirmed with the Call Centre (notoriously-unhelpful though they may be) that my partner's was sent on April 28th, which as of today is two weeks ago, which is longer than I expect for regular mail between Canada and the States. They suggested I send a CSE if it's not here in another week, but since I've already been anxiously checking the mail for a few days, I thought I might check what others have experienced. We're in Washington, and I know people whose CoPR was mailed to BC around the same time received theirs a week ago. Wishing we'd just put down a friend's address in BC! Thanks in advance for any data points

 

[fleuredeflorida]

Hoping to get some advice/insight on this....I am currently in Canada as a visitor, visiting my wife while we were working on finalizing and submitting the visa paperwork to submit. We just got all the pieces we needed today!

I had planned to stay up to the six months and if we didn't get COPR by then, I would go back to the states to wait for it. I brought my cat with me and due to my wife's extreme and unexpected allergies, we can't keep her in our space any longer. Unfortunately I have been turning up a lot of dead ends in trying to find the cat a new home here in Toronto. We are considering the possibility of me having to fly back to the US with the cat (I can take her to my parents), but I am concerned that flying in and out so often before the visa paperwork is submitted could be a problem.

Has anyone visited for several weeks, left for one or two weeks back to the US, and then come back into Canada again? Does this frequency of traveling in and out as a visitor cause any issues at the border?